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CNN NEWSROOM

Millions Brace For Fourth Major Snowstorm; Heavily Armed Gunmen Are On The Loose; Cartoonist Lars Vilks May Have Been Target; Author Argues West Should Not Arm Ukraine; Fight Now Near U.S. Troops In Iraq; Fight Against ISIS: White House Won't Confirm Ayatollah's Letter; Obama Calls Ukraine's President Poroshenko

Aired February 14, 2015 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Another massive dangerous winter storm is bearing down on the northeast right now. CNN's Will Ripley is in Cape Ann, Massachusetts. He is rolling along in the elements. Will, how do things look out there for you?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, the weather conditions are definitely deteriorating. We've seen the snow begin. As we drive here through Rockport you can see the snow banks along the sides of the streets here. It's really been a difficult situation.

They're running out of places to put all this snow. We're going to pull over to give you a sense of what they're concerned about. Coastal flooding and beach erosion is a real factor here.

And as the storm moves in and as it picks up, you can see a lot of these areas, including this harbor, the Rockport harbor here considered to be most at risk, but the bottom line people are hunkering down.

They're being told that the height of the storm from 5:00 a.m. on Sunday through 5:00 a.m. on Monday they won't be allowed out on the road -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Will Ripley, thanks for keeping us on top of it. The governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, we understand is going to be holding a news conference in the minutes ahead. We'll be monitoring that for developments.

You're the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Here's what's coming up this hour.

We will begin with the anticipated ceasefire in Ukraine in one hour if all goes as planned pro-Russian separatists will stop their advance into Eastern Ukraine and Ukraine military forces will stand down. At least that's the plan.

So we're wondering whether the ceasefire will actually hold as heavy shelling continues to rain down on large towns in Eastern Ukraine. People on both sides of the conflict, including civilians, have been reported killed in today's fighting alone. Ukraine's president says if the separatists do not stop their

aggression at midnight, he is ready to declare martial law across the entire country.

Of course, breaking news right now in Denmark, police are on the trail of two gunmen who carried out deadly terrorist attack just hours ago in Copenhagen. Witnesses say the gunmen stormed a free speech meeting firing as many as 30 to 40 shots.

A 40-year-old man was killed, three police officers were wounded. And this is the man police believe to be connected to the attack right now. This is a photograph provided by authorities. They also found what they think is the getaway car, a Volkswagen outside of a subway station.

There are pictures of that coming in as well. The possible target of the attack was the cartoonist, Lars Vilks. He has stirred up plenty of controversy with his portrayals of the Prophet Mohammed.

A woman who accompanied Vilks to the event said the two of them ran into a storage area huddled and holding hands until they were rescued by police. An eyewitness attending the free speech freedom discussion says he suddenly heard gunfire coming from the room next to him.

Joining me on the phone right now is that man, Dennis Meihoff Brink. Dennis, when the shooting started you heard a person yelling from the room next door. What was all that yelling about and can you describe what happened?

DENNIS MEIHOFF BRINK, EYEWITNESS (via telephone): Yes, well, I heard a lot of shots at first and I heard some yelling. It was in a language I don't understand. I think it wasn't in a European language. I think maybe it was Arabic or a similar language. I didn't understand it.

But I just heard a man yell very loud. I couldn't hear what he was yelling and then I heard some more shots. And we were all of course terrified. We were panicking inside the room and trying to get out of different doors.

But we could also hear shots in the street afterwards. So even though we were on our way out of one door, we stayed inside and were just hiding behind tables that were turned over and everything we could hide mind.

ACOSTA: And Dennis, how were you able to escape in what was that like?

BRINK: We didn't escape from the room at all. We stayed inside the room. We were hoping the assassin wouldn't get into the room. After a few minutes, a person came into the room with a gun and we all panicked very much.

But it turned out to be probably a person from the Danish intelligence service at least he wasn't interested in doing us any harm, and he was just securing a different door. He was shot in the leg, though, we could see he was bleeding.

And then another I think maybe five minutes later we heard the police cars all around. So we simply stayed inside the building.

ACOSTA: Dennis, if I could jump in, when this all started happening was it fairly clear to you who these attackers were coming for this cartoonist, this artist, Lars Vilks?

BRINK: Well, it's so that because Lars Vilks was there was a lot of security before. There was like a security check similar to the one you go through in an airport.

Therefore, of course, we knew that it might be an issue, although nobody of course expected something like this. But when I heard the person yell in what I think was Arabic, at that point, I thought that it was probably some Islamism terrorist or something who wanted to kill Lars Vilks.

ACOSTA: All right, Dennis, we're glad you're safe. Thank you very much for bringing that information and it's good talking to you sir, thank you very much for your time.

Let's bring in some folks who will give up perspective on all of this. Our CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes, former CIA counterterrorism analyst, Buck Sexton, and Paul Cruickshank, author of "Agent Storm, My Life Inside Al Qaeda."

Tom, you just heard, that man on the phone who witnessed some of this, he said he heard what he believes to be Arabic language being spoken in another room. And he was putting two and two together there.

It's not terribly difficult because Lars Vilks was there and the heavy security presence he assumed that's what was going on. What was going through your mind as you were hearing that man describing what was unfolding there?

TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: What ways hoping was if the event had started was it being recorded for whatever reason. Were they going to stream it online or something and do the police have the recordings? Do they have video inside where the attack took place or at the front entrance where the gunman came through as well as down the street?

We know most huge cities or capital cities have extensive video camera security systems and businesses, street corners, traffic lights, subways, buses.

So the hope is that police will be able to put that together along with whether anybody takes credit for this or people start sending messages to each other of congratulations that may provide a lead.

I think what we may see in the days ahead here is if the police track them to a safe house somewhere, I think there's going to be another gun battle. ACOSTA: And Buck, it's interesting what Tom says there because that does sound like what may be happening next. This is playing out in some ways in a very similar fashion to what we saw with the "Charlie Hebdo" attack in Paris. What's going through your mind as you heard that gentleman describe what occurred in that area? It's pretty chilling.

BUCK SEXTON, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: This goes along with a long line of similar attacks. You can bring up obviously "Charlie Hebdo," but also Theo Vangogh and the efforts to get Hersy Ali and others that are similar in scope.

The idea here is to terrify people, make sure there's a chilling effect across all of Europe and all of the west and all of the world when it comes to speaking about Islamic issues in a certain way or depicting the Prophet Mohammed in a certain way.

The viciousness and terror you see on display here unfortunately is recurring. This is not going to go away anytime soon. I think it's important to recognize just speaking about solidarity with free speech is not enough.

There has to be an understanding that the onus, the blame here is only on those who take up violence because of cartoons. It shouldn't be about anyone's offense, whether it's real or perceived, by making those cartoons.

So I think the more we see this and as this continues on there should be more of recognition that we should not blame the victims here. We have a very serious ideological fight on our hands as well.

ACOSTA: Now that's right, Buck. We don't want to do that. But being in the real world here, I return to Paul Cruickshank, whether or not that should be the thought that carries the day here, that cartoonist, that artist should be able to express themselves freely and should not be subjected to acts of terrorism, we all agree with that.

But at the same time, Vilks was on a hit list that was published in 2013 in an al Qaeda magazine, also on that hit list was the editor and chief of "Charlie Hebdo," who was killed in that massacre three weeks ago in Paris.

We have a difficult problem to solve here, do we not, Paul? Buck's comments are obviously the ones that should carry the day. But at the same time, you have a lot of radical Islamist extremists out there who are bent on destruction if they see these sorts of representations of the Prophet Mohammed.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CO-AUTHOR, "AGENT STORM: MY LIFE INSIDE AL QAEDA": Well, Jim, there's no doubt that these cartoons, which were first published in a Danish newspaper in 2005 have increased the terrorist threat in Scandinavia also elsewhere in Europe, especially against the publications at which republished these cartoons.

There have been a string of terror plots, really, since 2006 targeting the various cartoonists. ISIS itself back in 2007, its then leader, Abu Al-Baghdadi, put out $100,000 bounty if someone were to kill Lars Vilks with a $50,000 bonus if he was killed by slashing his throat.

We've also seen al Qaeda in Yemen as you see on your screen there threaten Lars Vilks and also Al Shabab in Somalia. For these groups it's partly opportunistic because the cartoons are a hot button issue, did cause anger among quite a lot of Muslims.

They think by targeting the cartoonists they can increase their stock in the global jihadist community, get more fundraising, more recruits and that kind of thing. This could also be a lone wolf attack.

People inspired by the message being put out by al Qaeda and ISIS, and in the last few weeks since those "Charlie Hebdo" attacks, both ISIS and AQAP have been putting out a lot of messages telling their followers in Europe, attack those who insult the Prophet Mohammed. And so there could be a link between those messages and that attack today.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. Paul Cruickshank, all of you thanks for your time. We'll try to get back to all of you later on in this hour and in the hours ahead trying to sort out what happened here in Copenhagen. Thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

Don't miss tonight. Paul is featured in a CNN special report "Double Agent Inside Al Qaeda for the CIA." Timely CNN special about a Danish man who embraced radical Islam before switching sides and becoming a top level secret agent. "Double Agent Inside Al Qaeda for the CIA" airs tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Coming up only minutes away from the start of a ceasefire that could end the bloody civil war in Ukraine, but are both sides ready to drop their weapons and walk away from this fight? That is coming up ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: And we are keeping our eye on the clock waiting to see if that ceasefire set to go into effect at midnight local time, 5:00 p.m. Eastern will hold.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Donetsk, Ukraine where he witnessed shelling earlier today. Nick, as we were talking to you earlier, you were healing shelling and seeing orange glows in the background. What's happening right now?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No change to the backdrop here, 45 minutes to go until we're supposed to see a ceasefire, a peace which will potentially bring an end to one of the most violent confrontations on the doorstep of Europe since the Balkan Wars.

A lead up to that, I want you to hear the shelling, incoming and outgoing sounds of shelling in Donetsk it's been happening quite frequently. No let up as all. The fog has slipped in as well.

But there's also a great sense of uncertainty about the next 40 plus minutes ahead. In 50 minimums time Ukrainian president will address the people on television. Many think that will be the order he gives the Ukrainian forces to stop fighting.

This is very messy technically. We've spoken to a spokesperson for the separatists who said they've now taken an important part of a town called Dubalsova a key to this agreement. They've taken a part of that and expect the Ukrainians to surrender.

Hundreds if not thousands of Ukrainian troops are still inside that town. The separatists claim that it is there under the accord signed in Minsk. That's how they've interpreted it. That is a concern. That could be a flash point that could derail this agreement entirely.

It could also be a place of intense violence in the minutes or hours after. There was more shelling impacting getting increasingly close to the city center as the day has gone on.

We're looking at a very volatile situation. President Obama has been on the phone with the Ukrainian president and so has Angela Merkel. But just listen to that, hasn't stopped at all.

ACOSTA: Of all the diplomacy in the world can't stop that shelling, the events on the ground, the real events that are happening on the ground, that may just leave all sides here in a very, very tough spot. And we may just see this fighting continue.

Nick Paton Walsh, thanks very much for keeping us up to speed on what's happening there. We'll check back with you. And if the cease- fire does not take hold, some U.S. lawmakers are sure to push harder for the U.S. to send arms to Ukraine.

While many concede Ukraine could not win a war against Russia, they do argue that the country should have the right to defend themselves to counter continued Russian aggression, as a matter of fact, that happens to be almost the position of the White House at this point.

Although they have not officially taken a position on sending arms to Ukraine, they are drifting in that direction. Our next guest disagrees with that position.

John Mearsheimer is a political science professor at the University of Chicago, and author of "The Tragedy of Great Power Politics," an op-ed piece in the "New York Times."

You argue it is a mistake to arm Ukraine. If they're not armed they continue to be over a barrel when it comes to this Russian aggression. Why do you have this position, sir?

JOHN MEARSHEIMER, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: First of all, there's no question that they're over a barrel. The question is whether or not we can create a situation where we can drive the costs up for the Russians so that Putin throws his hands up in the air and he basically surrenders to our demands.

I just don't think that that's going to happen. The fact of the matter is that from Putin's point of view, Ukraine is a core strategic interest. And he's willing to pay an enormous price to make sure that what happens in Ukraine works out, that Ukraine does not become part of the west.

ACOSTA: I'm having a little trouble with your shot there, hoping it's going to stabilize here, John. You do argue that the west should explicitly take European Union, NATO expansion off the table, and state that that that is not going to happen.

Ukraine is not going to get pulled into NATO. That is obviously an irritant to Russia. I think that has been expressed somewhat, though, by the Europeans, by the United States. Why would that work?

MEARSHEIMER: Well, first of all, we said after the April 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit that Ukraine and Georgia would become part of NATO. That's not been taken off the table. The reason that's unacceptable to the Russians they don't want the west or NATO in particular marching up to their doorstep.

It's just like the Monroe Doctrine for the United States. We in this country have what's called the Monroe Doctrine, which says that no distant great power can put military forces in the western hemisphere. We wouldn't tolerate a foreign power putting military forces or having military alliance with Mexico or Canada.

Well, the same basic logic applies in the case of Russia. They will not tolerate a situation where NATO is on their doorstep. So we have to take that promise --

MEARSHEIMER: Right. But John, do you expect Vladimir Putin to back off or do you just let him go into Ukraine and take more pieces of Ukraine as he did with Crimea? How do you stop Putin?

MEARSHEIMER: He has no interest in taking Ukraine, Jim. What he is doing here is he is saying that he will wreck Ukraine if the west does not stop trying to make Ukraine part of the west. That's what's going on here.

He has no interest in conquering territory in Ukraine. It would be a huge mistake on his part. He's just sending us a message that NATO expansion, European Union expansion, and efforts by the west to put a leader in power in Kiev, who is pro-western and anti-Russian, is simply unacceptable.

MEARSHEIMER: John Mearsheimer, appreciate that perspective on all of this. We'll have to wait and see if the ceasefire holds. Maybe we won't get to a point where the U.S. sends arms to the Ukrainian's. But John, thanks for stopping by and speaking with us about this very critical issue at a very serious moment. John, thanks very much.

ISIS fighters creeping closer to a base where U.S. service members are stationed in Iraq, how worried should we be about this threat and the danger to a key province? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MEARSHEIMER: Iraq's Anbar Province could fall within hours as ISIS makes military advances towards Baghdad according to a Sunni tribal leader in the region, who warns of a massacre. If Iraqi forces on the ground and air strikes from above don't stop the Jihadists, what will?

ISIS on Friday took control of the town of Al-Baghdadi. It's less than 10 miles from the sprawling air base where about 400 U.S. troops are located. The outskirts of that base came under fire Friday, but they were repelled by Iraqi security forces.

The Pentagon says that the U.S. troops who were based there were removed from the fighting. No evacuation is planned at this point. Still it means ISIS is getting perilously close to a key military asset.

Let's bring back CNN political commentator and former CIA counterterrorism analyst, Buck Sexton. Buck, let me ask you about this. When you saw that development, and it seems like every time we see a new ISIS development it's like whoa, I can't believe they can do that.

I can't believe they seized this territory in Iraq. The way they've been able to expand across huge swaths of Iraq is sort of breathtaking. What was your reaction when you saw that?

SEXTON: I think this is a moment where there should be a recognition where containment of ISIS is not really possible. At best you can buy yourself sometime over the short term with air strikes and with some of the measures that have been taken by the coalition.

But ISIS is consolidating inside the areas that it controls. It continues to draw recruits from all over the world. And it very much would like to take Baghdad. At least it would like to engage in a fight for Baghdad and create a tremendous amount of chaos for Iraq in the process whether it wins that fight or not.

So I think there's finally now more of an acceptance of the fact that what we've been doing so far is not enough to defeat this group or not enough to stop this group from continuing offensive operations.

If we're going to be serious about for example taking Mosul back this spring with allies on the ground including Kurds and the Iraqi military it's going to take some serious help from U.S. and from other partners including some ground troops.

MEARSHEIMER: The Peshmerga have said that they have not received the arms shipments they need to take battle to ISIS. They're working with old weapons. That is a problem for them, an obstacle for them.

But in terms of what the U.S. should do and you mentioned this debate that is happening inside this country right now. The president by putting forward this authorization for the use of military force, he crept a little bit closer and the White House doesn't like the term mission creep.

But crept a little closer towards putting troops into harm's way, into combat-type situations. He wants them to call air strikes, conduct rescue missions, perhaps carry out missions to take out ISIS leaders.

Is that going to be enough to turn the tide against this organization when as you just noted they are taking over big chunks of territory and they are creeping closer and closer to the Iraqi capital?

CRUICKSHANK: It may be enough. I think that's an optimistic scenario, but may be enough to push ISIS out of Mosul over time. I think that will be a difficult and possibly very bloody fight. It may even eventually be enough -- and I'm thinking now six to 12 months down the line maybe even more than that -- to push most of ISIS out of Iraq.

The problem is that we have nothing even close to what we have in Iraq on the Syrian side of the border. And if Afghanistan and Pakistan have been any sort of a historical, a place where we can look to for some sort of understanding of how these things work.

Then you can see that pushing the enemy just into Syria isn't going to be enough either. ISIS has very strong cadre there as well, continue bringing suicide bombers from all over the world as well as just other fighter.

So it's not enough just to kick them out of Iraq. That's going to be a tough fight and I think the administration is going to have a difficult time limiting the troops once they start getting deployed.

MEARSHEIMER: Well, as we know, the administration's plan is to have those Syrian rebels, the moderate vetted Syrian rebels, to sometime take the fight against ISIS. But they have to be trained. That training is just getting under way.

And the Iraqi security forces had to be retrained in order to be more effective against ISIS. So a lot of good questions that you've raised there, Buck. Stay with me. We'll get back to you.

Meantime in the fight against ISIS, we could see an old adversary potentially cooperating with us to beat those terrorists. Iran, is that possible, a possible ally in the fight against ISIS? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Meantime in the fight against ISIS, we could see an old adversary potentially cooperating with us to beat those terrorists -- Iran. Is that possible? A possible ally in the fight against ISIS? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: An intriguing story in the "Wall Street Journal" suggests Iran may be willing to help the U.S. fight against ISIS. Neither the White House nor the National Security Council will confirm a recent letter to President Obama from Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. It said to be a response to a letter that the president sent in October citing an unnamed Iranian diplomat, "The Wall Street Journal" says the ayatollah's letter opens the possibility of cooperation against ISIS if a nuclear deal can be reached with the West.

So, let's bring back Buck Sexton.

Buck, can you see us working with Iran against ISIS? Is that even possible?

BUCK SEXTON, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: We may have a common enemy in is. I can't see us working with Iran. I hope we wouldn't.

The Iranians have blood on their hands from when the U.S. had a large coalition in Iraq the last time around.

ACOSTA: That's right.

SEXTON: The Iranians were arming militias. The Iranians were going after specifically U.S. troops and had a policy really of trying to sow chaos and widespread bloodshed in that country. So, no, we shouldn't work with the Iranians at all.

They also want to defeat ISIS, but they want to essentially expand Shia hegemony across the broader Middle East. As we know, the Iranians are backing the Houthis in Yemen, and they're backing Hezbollah, and they're backing the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad.

So, the Iranians have some interests that coincides with fighting against extremist Sunni jihadists. But we have to recognize that the Iranians are no ally and no friend of ours.

ACOSTA: And it's interesting that this offer would come from the Iranians in the context -- potentially in the context of these negotiations that are going on over a nuclear deal that they would offer this sort of thing. I don't know if this is a cherry or some sort of enticement they think they're offering to the United States, you know?

And it's also interesting in that the Syrian president, Bashar al Assad, had at times said well I'm willing to work with the United States, willing to work with the coalition. And the White House seems to be thanks but no thanks.

But having said all of that, and what you said about what was going on during the Iraq war is true in terms of Iran's involvement with those militias in Iraq, the Shia militias, do we have a situation of the enemy of the enemy is my friend? And potentially something should be explored here?

SEXTON: Well, that may be the de facto status on the ground. Part of the problem is that Sunni Arabs right now in Iraq that we're hoping are going to turn against the Islamic state -- in fact if there's going to be a real defeat of ISIS, I think it's going to have to come at the hands of Sunni Arabs and Sunni Arab tribes in the Iraq-Syria corridor, along with some help from the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi national army.

But the truth of the matter those Sunni Arabs are also terrified of a notion of a Shia-dominated Iraqi government. They think it already is, in fact, one. They worry about Shia death squad, Shia militias that try to settle the sectarian score. They often do so with help and assistance from Iran, if not direction from Iran. So, it's a zero-sum game in the sense that, yes, we can work or rather

we can both fight against ISIS, and they can be helpful in that fight. But the moment that we would in any way actively collude with them, we would have to then deal with the fact that the Iranians are actually engaged in their own human rights abuses and terrorism. They're a state sponsor of terror. And they are seeking to dominate Iraq as well. That's in their near-term strategic interests.

ACOSTA: And, of course, as you just said, it may inflame tensions within the Sunnis who we will need eventually to win this war against ISIS in Iraq.

OK, Buck, thank you very much. Appreciate that.

This may come as a surprise, but the greatest threat to U.S. national security is not Islamic fundamentalism. That's according to Leon Panetta, former defense secretary and former director of the CIA. He's my guest tomorrow on CNN "STATE OF THE UNION". I asked him about the president's ability to win military authorization against ISIS. I wasn't expecting this response from Leon Panetta.

But listen to how he described the greatest national security threat to the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: The president could get this done. But it's going to take a continuing commitment. You know, look. You want to know what the biggest national security threat is to this country right now? It's the total dysfunction in Washington, the fact that so little can be done by the Congress.

They can't even resolve the issue of homeland security. They can't deal with budgets. They can't deal with immigration reform. They can't deal with infrastructure. They can't deal with other issues.

If they wind up not being able to deal with this war authorization, that sends a terrible message to the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And you will see the entire interview tomorrow morning at 9:00 Eastern when I host CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION". Again, our guest the former defense secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta. He talks about not only the war on ISIS, but the situation in Ukraine and much, much more. So, we'll see you back there tomorrow morning for "STATE OF THE UNION" with Leon Panetta.

Still to come, mixing it up in New York: high fashion and pro basketball. The two worlds are closer than you think. That is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Getting back to weather, a massive dangerous winter storm is bearing down on the Northeast. Blizzard warnings are taking effect from Long Island to Maine. The governor of Massachusetts is asking people in his state to stay off the roads tonight and tomorrow. He's also warning of flight delays and cancellations out of Boston's Logan Airport. They just cannot catch a break.

Boston, the city already burdened with nearly 80 inches of snow from the last three storms, about to get hit with more. Another 10 to 14 inches are in the forecast -- just brutal.

Now, the basketball world, something good to do indoors is in New York City this weekend getting ready for tomorrow's all-star game. There is something brand-new this year that may be of interest to fans and non-basketball fans alike.

CNN's Andy Scholes joins me now. Who could not be a basketball fan? I'm sorry. That is just -- I just don't understand that one. But I guess there are some of those folks out there.

The NBA has a fashion show now? I mean, we know they do get all tatted up these days. That is one thing an old guy like me is not used to seeing so many NBA players with tattoos everywhere. But this is a different kind of fashion, I guess.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jim.

These NBA players -- they're always wearing these wild outfits to the game, you know, we see them in these post press game press conference, they always got something new, something flashy, they always trying to one up each other.

So, they finally decided, hey, let's decide this fashion thing on a catwalk this. So, this year, ear they had the first ever all-star weekend fashion show. TNT let us have a behind the scenes look at what goes on at this fashion show. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHOLES: We're here at the first ever NBA all-star fashion show. One of the judges --

CHARLES BARKLEY, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Thank God it's the first one ever.

SCHOLES: All right, Charles, someone is wearing something outrageous, you going to let them have it?

BARKLEY: I promise you that.

SCHOLES: Chuck calls this a skunk. What exactly -- what would you call it?

J.R. SMITH, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS GUARD: This is flashy. Very flashy.

SCHOLES: Very flashy?

SMITH: Foxy.

SCHOLES: Foxy.

SCHOLES: How nervous were you out there walking with an actual model?

KLAY THOMPSON, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS GUARD: Oh, man, I was much more nervous walking by myself. At least the model is really pretty so it took all the eyes off me a little bit.

RACHEL HILBERT, MODEL: Everyone gets jitters. I mean, there's always butterflies when you're in front of the camera.

SCHOLES: So this is board room attire? Looks very nice. But no socks. Can you explain that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I just wanted to go a little shorter cut. And it's a classy, all American look. I thought this was the best option for this outfit.

(INAUDIBLE)

SCHOLES: He just looks like a model, right? Like he should be on an Abercrombie poster.

SHANINA SHAIK, MODEL: His body type, it falls on him very well.

SCHOLES: Pretty blue eyes.

SHAIK: Right, yes.

SCHOLES: You just think parsons is pretty?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHOLES: Make sure to watch TNT tonight 6:30 Eastern if you want to see who comes out on top of the all-star weekend fashion show.

Jim, I got to tell you, it was a lot of fun being there for the event.

ACOSTA: And, Andy, if there's ever an event that cries out for Dennis Rodman. I mean, you know --

(LAUGHTER)

SCHOLES: Yes, the wild things he used to wear. Like J.R. Smith had that fur thing he called a foxy hanging on him. Rodman would have probably one upped him with something he would wear.

ACOSTA: Check out my man John Wall of the Washington Wizards. I'm a Wizards fan.

SCHOLES: He was there, he was there actually rocking a very fancy outfit with some gold shoes. But he was not in the actual competition. Who knows? Maybe he'll come in and compete next year.

ACOSTA: All right. Good deal. Andy shoals, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Great stuff up there. We're going to be watching that NBA all-star game and rooting for the Washington Wizards John Wall. That's the only thing I'll be doing during that game.

All right, Andy, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

SCHOLES: All right.

ACOSTA: Time is ticking down to the start of a cease-fire in Ukraine that could end a bloody conflict that has lasted for months but only if the two sides can set aside their weapons. And that is the question. That is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: And, of course, we are keeping our eye on the clock waiting to see if that cease-fire. You can see the counter there below -- if that cease-fire that is set to go into effect at midnight local, 5:00 p.m. Eastern, will hold. Until now, the fighting has been bloody and it has been brutal. Neither side is willing to set aside their weapons to end the war. This week the two sides agreed to a deal during negotiations in Minsk that involved the Germans and the French and the Russians, of course.

But there was also a 48-hour period before that cease-fire is set to take hold here in the next couple of minutes. That delay has seen violent fighting.

And our Nick Paton Walsh, he has been in the eastern Ukraine, been with us the last couple of hours, and we've heard the shelling in the background as he was speaking to us live about the cease-fire that is due to begin at midnight local time. Of course, you can see the clock there at the bottom, nine minutes, 18 seconds.

But before we see that cease-fire hopefully take hold, let's go to CNN's Erin McPike. She joins me with some new information out of Washington.

Erin, I understand the president has spoken to the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko. Tell us about that.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He has, Jim. He's also spoken today to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. As you know, President Obama is traveling on the West Coast. But he did take the time to make those two phone calls, of course, expressing sympathy about all of the violence that's been going on in Eastern Ukraine.

But I want to read to you a little bit about what the White House is saying about that call with President Poroshenko. They see say the two leaders emphasize the pressing need for all signatories to implement the cease-fire and protocol agreement reached at Minsk last September and reaffirmed by the Minsk implementation plan this week. They agreed to remain in close contact in the days ahead. Both leaders stress the importance of establishing a lasting peace that respects Ukraine's sovereignty and unity.

And then President Obama also thanked Chancellor Angela Merkel for all of the work that she's done to try to get to this point. But Jim, of course, in the last five months, there have been

ceasefires and they have been broken, not honored many times. And also, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry have been to the region multiple times and have been trying to get to a place where a cease-fire can be honored. But we just haven't seen that yet.

So, of course, there is new hope for this to go forward and have some success. But that's why they're going to continue talking to hope that this time it actually works, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Of course looming over all of this, Erin, is this potential for the Obama administration to authorize the shipment of weapons to the Ukrainian's to fight those pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine. So, if the cease-fire does not hold and if that fighting continues, we may see movement in that area.

Erin McPike, thanks very much for that update. We appreciate it.

And we'll go live to Ukraine in just minutes from now to see if this cease-fire can end the bloodshed.

Now, moving onto a different story about a family who turned a devastating discovery into an opportunity to educate others. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDY GOLD, FATHER: Which paper do you want?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Golds may look like a typical family, but look closer.

RANDY GOLD: Now you look at me. Look at this paper.

GUPTA: Six-year-old Eden can't walk, talk, or do most anything a girl her age should be doing. She has a progressive neurological disorder called Mucolipidosis Type 4 or ML4. It's a rare genetic disorder more common among Ashkenazi Jews, people of Eastern and Central European Jewish decent.

CAROLINE GOLD, MOTHER: A game, which game?

GUPTA: Eden's development stopped at 18 months. Doctors say she'll be blind by age 12 and will probably not live beyond early adulthood.

CAROLINE GOLD: Every dream that we had for our daughter was just ended with one phone call.

GUPTA: The Golds thought they were thoroughly screened for genetic diseases before they got married. Their first child was born healthy.

CAROLINE GOLD: My doctor tested me for a total of eight diseases and Randy's doctor tested him for a total of two diseases. Neither one of our doctors tested us for ML4. GUPTA: The couple didn't want other families to suffer the same fate. They started an online education and screening program for genetic diseases, common among Ashkenazi Jews. At-home screening kits are mailed out and a genetic counselor delivers the results over the phone.

RANDY GOLD: JScreen's mission is to make sure that parents know that they should be screened for genetic diseases before they get pregnant. We can provide them information on having healthy children of their own.

GUPTA: Just like the Gold's, who added another daughter to their family.

RANDY GOLD: Eden is here for a purpose. She saves lives every day.

Oh, my goodness.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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